DAMNATION ALLEY in '70s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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DAMNATION ALLEY

Author	Comment
borchabob	DAMNATION ALLEY	Lead	[-]
Feb 21 12 12:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I could not find a thread for this film so I'll just start one. I just got this on dvd the other day. I remember seeing this in the theatre when it came out in 1977, but I could only remember a few images from this film. Watched it this mourning, not a bad film. "The world is devastated by a nuclear holocaust, causing the Earth to tilt on it's axis and bringing vast meterological chaos. As the weather stabilizes, mutant insects start to emerge, preying on survivors. Luckily, the remaining crew at a U.S. Air Force bomb shelter in the Mojave Desert picks up radio sigals coming from Albany. The crews commander, Major Eugene Denten (George Peppard), unveils two armored vehicles he has constructed and announces a plan to cross "Damnation Alley", the 100 mile wide strip between areas of radiation hazard, to join the other survivors. They set off, taking on two civilians, a novice singer (Dominique Sanda) they find in the ruins of Las Vegas and a wild teenager(Jackie Earle Haley), along the way. The journey is also beset by giant mutated cockroaches, storms and crazed survivalists, making for some hair-raising encounters in this post-apocalyptic thriller." Also stars Jan-michael Vincent. The dvd comes with three featurettes, and a commentary with Paul Maslansky.
Rider		#1	[-]
Feb 21 12 3:10 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've been meaning to9 go back and watch this. I remember it really freaked me out as a kid.
borchabob		#2	[-]
Feb 21 12 10:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In one of the featurettes they used what they called sound 360. I guess today we call it surround sound. was that something new back then?
Rick		#3	[-]
Feb 21 12 11:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This thing was a mess. Infamous, even as it was released, for all the tinkering, cutting, and messing about that went on trying to get it onto the nation's screens. Murray Hamilton appears prominently but, I believe, silently in the opening scenes and is uncredited. That was only a mild indicator of the chaos to come. DAMNATION ALLEY should have gone through the roof, showing up at the height of '77's sci-fi fever, about 5 months after STAR WARS and two months before the eagerly awaited CLOSE ENCOUNTERS. But, blah. I saw it the day it opened in Denver and was not amused. Still ain't.
Monsterpal		#4	[-]
Feb 21 12 11:34 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I remember enjoying Zelazny's novel, but it was virtually unrecognizable in this thing.
scotpens		#5	[-]
Feb 22 12 1:26 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	IIRC, the auroras and weird sky effects in this film were an early use of computer-generated images. That and the interesting Land Master vehicle (only one was actually built) are about all this picture has to offer.
borchabob		#6	[-]
Feb 22 12 9:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I also liked the sky effects and the Land Master which was an actual working vehicle on land or sea. I also thought the giant scorpions and the cockroaches scenes were ok for the time. probably could have been better. I do think this would be a great candidate for a remake.
ryanbrennan		#7	[-]
Feb 22 12 11:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Great double feature: DAMANATION ALLEY and MEGAFORCE!
borchabob		#8	[-]
Feb 23 12 9:11 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	ryanbrennan wrote: Great double feature: DAMANATION ALLEY and MEGAFORCE! Megaforce, I think I laughed through most of that movie, thats the one with the flying motorcycles, yes? Last Edited By: borchabob Feb 23 12 9:16 AM. Edited 1 times.
Heathenson		#9	[-]
Feb 24 12 8:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Loved the Landmaster vehicle!
luluthebeast		#10	[-]
Feb 27 12 2:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	That and THE KILLER COCKROACHES!
Spoiler II		#11	[-]
Feb 28 12 1:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	borchabob wrote: I do think this would be a great candidate for a remake. When i saw a DAMNATION ALLEY thread,this was my exact first thought. First things first,bring back the biker character from the original novel. CGI would also work wonders for those cockroach and scorpion FX. I was always amused by the fact that anybody was trying to get to Albany,regardless of how much of a safe haven it was after the apocalypse.
HalLane		#12	[-]
Feb 28 12 5:58 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	borchabob wrote: The dvd comes with three featurettes, and a commentary with Paul Maslansky. I always thought it was curious that in those Perry Mason tv movies, they eventually replaced the character of Paul Drake Jr. with the relatively unpronounceable "Ken Maslansky". In one of the featurettes they used what they called sound 360. I guess today we call it surround sound. was that something new back then? I remember that sound set-up in the theatre very well. I think it was kind of an offshoot of "Sensurround", but without the giant base speaker shaking things up. My strongest impression is of sitting too close to the speaker that was doing the "wind" sound effect and realizing it was just somebody blowing on tissue paper, like a homemade "comb/kazoo". Very freaky. On my first trip to Los Angeles as an adult in the late '70s I remember looking out the window from some expressway or superhighway or whatever they call them and spotting the Landmaster sitting in a parking lot, like a used car dealer or something. Very cool. In the early '70s I once bicycled from Albany to Buffalo. Helluva trip, but it looked nothing like Damnation Alley. Perhaps it will someday.
Reegs		#13	[-]
Feb 28 12 12:07 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	luluthebeast wrote: That and THE KILLER COCKROACHES! "Repeat - killer cockroaches!"
bipolarber		#14	[-]
Feb 29 12 9:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yeah, I have to agree about the cockroaches... Most of the movie was kinda "blah" (with the exception of the landmaster) but when they got to the "The town is infested with killer cockroaches!" line, I just gave up any resistence to the movie, and started enjoying the silly-ass ride. Although, the idea of doing a remake is intriguing.... maybe they could actually go back to Zelazny's novel... Or, I've often had the thought it might make a great adventure for Snake Plissken. (The two characters are actually pretty similar.) "[The audiance] will populate the darkness with more horrors than all the horror writers in Hollywood could think of. If you make the screen dark enough, the mind's eye will read anything into it you want! We're great ones for the dark patches." -VAL LEWTON
Monsterpal		#15	[-]
Mar 1 12 2:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	bipolarber wrote: maybe they could actually go back to Zelazny's novel... Or, I've often had the thought it might make a great adventure for Snake Plissken. (The two characters are actually pretty similar.) Exactly. Hell Tanner was the last outlaw biker cruising through a post-apocalyptic America to save what's left of mankind from a viral plague. Why do you suppose they threw out that fun character for the blah script they ended up?
Rakshasa		#16	[-]
Mar 1 12 10:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	You know, I've never seen this movie. I remember when it was in theaters and I remember the trailer (with the clouds in the sky all red and sped-up via time lapse photography). I think I need to see this once and for all. Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
scotpens		#17	[-]
Mar 2 12 2:21 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	HalLane wrote: On my first trip to Los Angeles as an adult in the late '70s I remember looking out the window from some expressway or superhighway or whatever they call them and spotting the Landmaster sitting in a parking lot, like a used car dealer or something. Very cool. Freeways. Not expressways, superhighways, parkways, turnpikes or motorways. FREEWAYS, dammit! In the early '70s I once bicycled from Albany to Buffalo. You must know every inch of the way, then. You wouldn’t happen to have a mule named Sal, by any chance?
HalLane		#18	[-]
Mar 2 12 9:22 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I actually live much less than 15 miles from the Erie Canal. But if I named my mule Sal, people would get us mixed up a lot more than they already do.
Mark Hodgson		#19	[-]
Mar 9 12 4:12 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I love the fact that this is now out on blu-ray. Haven't seen it 2.35 widescreen since seeing it in the cinema... Black Hole DVD Reviews
Rick		#20	[-]
May 26 12 12:01 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Boy, the ad looks interesting. Maybe I was wrong about the movie SUCKING!!!!

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